In general, detailed examination of a subject using an endoscope requires setting up the subject for being examined. To satisfy this requirement, conventionally, various measuring means for measuring of the subject using the endoscope have been proposed and disclosed.
For example, a proposal disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,063,023 shows an endoscope that is instrumented for stereo measurements. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-275934, also provided by the applicant of the present invention, shows an endoscope which automatically selects and executes measurement methods depending on the type of optical adaptor.
In the endoscope apparatus disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,063,023, an optical adaptor having two optical systems necessary for image pick-up and measurement of a subject in an endoscope main body are disclosed. Images through two lens systems in the optical adaptor are formed on a single image pickup device. The measurement is performed by image processing using at least the obtained endoscope images. The endoscope comprises measurement processing means to perform various functions. For example, the measurement processing means performs processing for reading information from a recording medium on which the optical data from the optical adaptor is recorded. The measurement processing means also performs processing for correcting the optical data based on the position error of an image pick-up system of the endoscope main body. The measurement processing means also performs processing for coordinate-transforming the image for measurement based on the corrected optical data. The measurement processing means also performs processing for obtaining a three-dimensional coordinate at an arbitrary point by matching the two images based on the two coordinate-transformed images.
In the endoscope having the above-mentioned structure, the three-dimensional coordinate is obtained at an arbitrary point on the subject by matching two images based on two pieces of image information obtained by coordinate-transforming two images of the subject captured by the image pick-up device via the optical adaptor. Consequently, the endoscope may be designed at low cost and with excellent measurement accuracy.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001275934 discloses an endoscope comprising a connecting portion provided for at an endoscope tip portion, and a plurality of optical adaptor types detachably coupleable to the connecting portion, for forming a subject image to an image pick-up device. This device performs the measuring by connecting one type of optical adaptor and imaging an image signal obtained by the image pick-up device. The endoscope further comprises measurement processing means that performs menu display processing for selection based on display data previously associated with the plurality of optical adaptors and performs measurement processing based on the selected result in the menu display processing.
In the endoscope having the above-mentioned structure, the optical adaptor is selected on the menu, thereby automatically selecting a measuring method corresponding to the selected optical adaptor. The measurement processing can be executed corresponding to the selected measuring method only by pressing an executing switch provided for an endoscope operating portion, in the case of executing the measurement.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001275934 discloses an embodiment, in which images of the plurality of optical adaptors are calibrated. The resultant images are stored as data on a measurement environment in a compact flash memory card utilized as an external storage medium. By selecting the proper optical adaptor used on the menu, the data on the environment is used corresponding to the selected optical adaptor.
In general, characteristics of a photographing state of the image to be measured are varied depending on the type of a camera control unit (hereinafter, referred to as a CCU) for converting signals outputted from a video endoscope main body, an optical adaptor for measuring having an objective lens and a video endoscope into TV signals or the type of recording mediums for converting the TV signal into a digital signal and recording it, or the difference of devices. Therefore, the accurate measurement can be performed by various correction so that the measuring endoscope is set to match the combination of the devices upon photographing the measured image. That is, in all cases, elaborate and time-consuming steps involving the measuring settings or parameters are necessary.
Thus, it is important in the measurement apparatus or system to form data necessary for correcting the measurement image before processing for actually calculating a measuring value and this processing has characteristics depending on the device for recording the image. Since the above processing method is performed in the device for recording the image, the measuring can conventionally be executed only in the endoscope upon performing the measurement of the temporarily recorded image again. Alternatively, the measurement of the image recorded by one device can be performed on another device. However, the measurement can be performed again only on the measuring endoscope apparatus.
Recently, re-measurement is increasingly performed by using the measured image recorded by the combination of various devices (under the testing environments) in accordance with the increase in type of endoscope main bodies, optical adaptors, and CCUs to match the application of various measurements.
However, since the conventional apparatuses have no means for recording data indicating under which testing environment the image is photographed in the measured images, there is a danger that upon re-measurements using the same image for a while, the measurement environment cannot be set again or the measurement environment is set by erroneous connection of the devices for purpose of re-measurement because an operator forgets the measurement environment upon photographing the image.
The data on the measurement environment set to in the conventional apparatuses is limited to data on an arbitrary measurement environment and, therefore, when the re-measurement is performed by the image that is not suitable to the data on the measurement environment in the measurement endoscope apparatus such as a measurement image using the different type of optical adaptor, all the devices must be connected to the apparatus before actual re-measurement and the measurement environment must manually be performed again. Thus, the operation for re-measurement is excessively complicated and troublesome.
Further, when the above-mentioned apparatus disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-275934 includes a facility for recording the photographed image to a detachable recording medium such as a floppy disk or a facility for capturing the image recorded on the recording medium to another measurement endoscope apparatus, it is necessary to set the endoscope, optical adaptor, or CCU which is actually used upon photographing the image to be actually connected to a measuring endoscope to be used for re-measurement on an endoscope different from the endoscope used for the actual image photographing.
Not only the recorded image is captured or displayed on the PC but also much PC software which can easily perform this operation is available.
Accordingly, various measured images can generally be managed on the above-mentioned PC software. However, since neither means nor processing for setting the testing environment on the PC exists, the re-measurement of the image captured to the PC cannot be performed.